Tag Archives: Uses for cell phones

One of the advantages of digital cameras and cellphones with cameras are that you can use the cameras to capture things other than standard images. I wasn’t born in the digital age so it doesn’t always come naturally to me to think about taking a picture instead of using some other mechanism to retain info.

I bought some flowers this weekend, a variety I had never heard of: Coreopsis. I knew that next year when the plants came back up I wouldn’t remember a thing about them, including the name. So I took a picture of the label that came with the plant. I did that with the other varieties of plants I bought as well, alternating with a picture of each plant. So next year, I can go into a store and ask for some Coreopsis or Calibrachoa Caberets (purple and white flowers pictured) and know I’ll like what I’m getting.

A few weeks ago I attended a charity event with friends. They had bought a raffle ticket for a $10,000 prize. My friend showed me a pic of the ticket on his iPhone, proof of owning the ticket just in case it got lost. Snap a picture of any important documents in case you need the info in a hurry or you want proof you had the document in your possession.

A friend of mine, who was shopping for blenders, asked me to check prices in one of the warehouse clubs I belong to. There were a number I found I thought she might be interested in, so I took a pic of each one, as well as the price tags which showed features and prices. I was able to send her the pics and not have to worry about writing it all down and possibly missing key attributes.

My husband and I have been looking for a new vanity for our powder room. Every time one of us comes across a new item, we take a pic of it along with the price/description. Those pics come in handy when you’re trying to remember and compare similar items. After a while, everything starts to look alike and these pictures can help you remember key details.

A few years back we were robbed and had to let the insurance company know what was stolen. A lot of items were taken and it was a little hard to figure out what was missing. In some cases we still had the boxes (because my husband never throws out the box for anything “important”) which helped us prove exactly what models of each item were stolen. For years I’ve heard about the idea of photographing all of your possessions for reasons just like that, but we have a lot of stuff and it sounds overwhelming. I have started taking pictures of the model and serial numbers on bigger ticket items we purchase just in case.

Pictures are not just pictures anymore, they’re data . What unusual items have you used your camera or cell phone to take pictures of?